Tara CDD, Seat 1: Joe Di Bartolomeo

I am a solid candidate for this position because:

As the current vice chairman of the Tara Preserve CDD, I have had four years of proven performance in oversight of our bond issue. This oversight includes cost containment, improvements to the beautification of the district, enhanced amenities, increased security policies, software and hardware, increased district services and improved communication with my constituents.

This experience makes me a qualified candidate:

My education, skills and business and life experiences add value to our community in several ways. First as an owner of several businesses, my ability to look at issues as opportunities brings a multi-dimensional problem solving approach to district management. Second, my previous four years as vice chairman has educated me in state and county regulations regarding use, maintenance and resource availability for the success of our district. Third, my BA in accounting and MBAs in technology and finance provide me the backbone of advanced education I put into practice. Lastly, though improved communications with our vendors, constituents and Preserve Golf Club, we are identifying opportunities for improvements and addressing them in a timely and collaborative manner.

These are two big issues that I hope to tackle:

I am proud to report that the big issues of maintenance cost escalation and district safety have already been successfully addressed by our current CDD team. The issues to address moving forward are consistent in running any enterprise and require a business management mindset, advanced education and previous hands-on experience to keep our tax payers fees at current levels, while we continue to pay down our bond and enhance our property values.

I want to serve because:

Public service is an honor and the civic duty of every citizen. It is not an opportunity to leverage power or enhance personal wealth. Whether you are President of the United States or a local commissioner, we take an oath to represent all of our constituents, in a lawful manner for the purpose of creating the best possible outcomes for them, not ourselves. It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the vice chairman of our CDD for the past four years.

I would like to add:

I have expanded my participation in our Tara Community by working on two Tara Master Association committees — the Electronic Communication Technology and the Document Digitizing Project. The ETC is collecting data and will be negotiating the best cable/Internet contract for all of Tara and DDP is working to digitize all TMA documents to improve access, retrieval and reduce cost.